Food insecurity and insufficiency at low levels of food expenditures

This study uses data from the December 2003 Food Security Supplement of the CPS to compare the food insufficiency and insecurity measures with objective measures of food expenditures and objective and subjective measures of food needs. The study examines the general relationships between these variables and finds that reports of food hardships are positively associated with food expenditures and negatively associated with needs. The study goes on to examine reports of food hardships at low very levels of food expenditures, where we conjecture that most people should experience food problems. When expenditures are scaled by an objective measure of needs, there is no point along the expenditure distribution where more than half of the survey respondents report experiencing being food insufficient or insecure. However, when expenditures are scaled by a subjective threshold, we observe near-universal reporting of food problems at low levels of expenditures. The findings indicate that the food insufficiency and insecurity measures each incorporate a large subjective component, which limits the usefulness of the measures for comparing the extent of food hardships across populations or over time or evaluating the effects of assistance programs

Analyzing E.M.B.A. Student Feedback

The results of an executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program assessment are analyzed and interpreted against the backdrop of increasing competition between universities to attract and retain qualified students. The public education environment is currently in a turbulent state. This turbulence is in part caused by such factors as: reductions in public funding for higher education due to constrained state budgets, student expectations, requirements imposed by accrediting bodies, and other outside constituencies requesting more accountability. The pressure to hold education institutions accountable is increasing at a rapid rate. To provide a measure of accountability and quantify program quality, education institutions have placed a great deal of emphasis on program assessment. Informational results from program assessments influence a myriad of decisions made by many that ultimately impact student enrollment, program support and program funding. Despite questionable psychometric properties and potentially conflicting outcomes, student evaluations of teaching faculty continue to be a primary source of information used in program assessments. This burdens educators and administrators with the task of interpreting and utilizing incomplete and perhaps inaccurate information. Results indicate that student response rates decline with increased numbers of evaluations and influences on teaching quality assessments may be unrelated to content and presentation

Expectations of Executive MBAs

Currently there are over 200 EMBA programs worldwide. These programs have grown in popularity and have increased by over a third in the last three years. Overall, schools are aggressively marketing their EMBA programs, and, as a consequence, prospective EMBA participants have numerous options for EMBA program enrollment. To successfully compete in the current environment, EMBA programs must understand and market to the expectations of prospective EMBAs. This paper explores the suitability of using the Teaching Goals Inventory (TGI) developed by Angelo and Cross (1993) as an instrument to analyze the expectations of EMBA candidates in the United States and describes the results of a survey of 262 EMBA participants using the TGI

Analyzing E.M.B.A. Student Feedback

The results of an executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program assessment are analyzed and interpreted against the backdrop of increasing competition between universities to attract and retain qualified students. The public education environment is currently in a turbulent state. This turbulence is in part caused by such factors as: reductions in public funding for higher education due to constrained state budgets, student expectations, requirements imposed by accrediting bodies, and other outside constituencies requesting more accountability. The pressure to hold education institutions accountable is increasing at a rapid rate. To provide a measure of accountability and quantify program quality, education institutions have placed a great deal of emphasis on program assessment. Informational results from program assessments influence a myriad of decisions made by many that ultimately impact student enrollment, program support and program funding. Despite questionable psychometric properties and potentially conflicting outcomes, student evaluations of teaching faculty continue to be a primary source of information used in program assessments. This burdens educators and administrators with the task of interpreting and utilizing incomplete and perhaps inaccurate information. Results indicate that student response rates decline with increased numbers of evaluations and influences on teaching quality assessments may be unrelated to content and presentation

Small Business Transformation: The MEDS Approach

In today\u27s rapidly changing business environment, small businesses must gain a deeper understanding of the future to develop strategies that will provide them with sustainable competitive advantage. The traditional approaches to strategy formulation are inadequate in an environment that is complex and dynamic. This paper investigates a new approach that helps small businesses see the future. It discusses an application of the multi­ equilibrium dissipative structures (MEDS) approach to strategy formulation within the context of a small business involved in medical management software development. The dissipative systems approach can be used to evaluate the critical discontinuities that a small business faces in dealing with its changing environment. The approach also provides an opportunity for researchers to further develop theory in strategy formulation in small businesses, especially those directly involved in the rapidly changing areas of global operations and technology innovations

Expectations of Executive MBAs

Currently there are over 200 EMBA programs worldwide. These programs have grown in popularity and have increased by over a third in the last three years. Overall, schools are aggressively marketing their EMBA programs, and, as a consequence, prospective EMBA participants have numerous options for EMBA program enrollment. To successfully compete in the current environment, EMBA programs must understand and market to the expectations of prospective EMBAs. This paper explores the suitability of using the Teaching Goals Inventory (TGI) developed by Angelo and Cross (1993) as an instrument to analyze the expectations of EMBA candidates in the United States and describes the results of a survey of 262 EMBA participants using the TGI

U.S. and Romanian Executive MBA Students: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Currently, there are over 260 EMBA programs worldwide with approximately 180 programs resident in the United States. The number of programs available for EMBA students has increased competition for those students. One characteristic of this increased competition between EMBA programs is the addition of global initiatives to expose students to other cultures. Part of this global initiative has resulted in alliances and the establishment of working relationships between educational institutions. To facilitate and enhance the learning experience while in an EMBA program these alliances should consider the impact culture plays in shaping student expectations. This paper addresses the question of whether or not EMBA students, regardless of country of origin, have similar learning expectations or is there a cultural dimension that would impact their respective expectations? To answer this question a survey was administered to U.S. and Romanian EMBA students. This paper will analyze and describe the results of that survey

U.S. and Romanian Executive MBA Students: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Currently, there are over 260 EMBA programs worldwide with approximately 180 programs resident in the United States. The number of programs available for EMBA students has increased competition for those students. One characteristic of this increased competition between EMBA programs is the addition of global initiatives to expose students to other cultures. Part of this global initiative has resulted in alliances and the establishment of working relationships between educational institutions. To facilitate and enhance the learning experience while in an EMBA program these alliances should consider the impact culture plays in shaping student expectations. This paper addresses the question of whether or not EMBA students, regardless of country of origin, have similar learning expectations or is there a cultural dimension that would impact their respective expectations? To answer this question a survey was administered to U.S. and Romanian EMBA students. This paper will analyze and describe the results of that survey

Bias and precision of crowdsourced recreational activity data from Strava

Recreational activity is the single most valuable ecosystem service in many developed countries with a range of benefits for public health. Crowdsourced recreational activity data is increasingly being adopted in management and monitoring of urban landscapes, however inherent biases in the data make it difficult to generalize patterns to the total population. We used in-situ observations and questionnaires to quantify accuracy in Strava data - a widely used outdoor activity monitoring app – in Oslo, Norway. The precision with which Strava data captured the spatial (R2 = 0.9) and temporal variation (R2 = 0.51) in observed recreational activity (cyclist and pedestrian) was relatively high for monthly time series during summer, although precision degraded at weekly and daily resolutions and during winter. Despite the precision, Strava exhibits significant biases relative to the total recreationist population. Strava activities represented 2.5 % of total recreationist activity in 2016, a proportion that increased steadily to 5.7 % in 2020 due to a growing usership. Strava users are biased toward cyclists (8 % higher than observed), males (15.7 % higher) and middle-aged people (20.4 % higher for ages 35–54). Strava pedestrians that were able to complete a questionnaire survey (>19 years) were biased to higher income brackets and education levels. Future studies using Strava data need to consider these biases – particularly the underrepresentation of vulnerable age (children/elderly) and socio-economic (poor/uneducated) groups. The implementation of Strava data in urban planning processes will depend on accuracy requirements of the application purpose and the extent to which biases can be corrected for. Accuracy Mobility GPS tracking Physical activity Green spacepublishedVersio

The effects of anaesthesia on cell death in a porcine model of neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury

Background: Hypothermia is neuroprotective after neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury. However, systemic cooling to hypothermic temperatures is a stressor and may reduce neuroprotection in awake pigs. We compared two experiments of global hypoxic-ischaemic injury in newborn pigs, in which one group received propofol–remifentanil and the other remained awake during post-insult hypothermia treatment. Methods: In both studies, newborn pigs were anaesthetised using halothane during a 45-min global hypoxic-ischaemic insult induced by reducing Fio2 and graded hypotension until a low-voltage <7 μV electroencephalogram was achieved. On reoxygenation, the pigs were randomly allocated to receive 24 h of normothermia or hypothermia. In the first study (n=18) anaesthesia was discontinued and the pigs' tracheas were extubated. In the second study (n=14) anaesthesia was continued using propofol and remifentanil. Brain injury was assessed after 72 h by classical global histopathology, Purkinje cell count, and apoptotic cell counts in the hippocampus and cerebellum. Results: Global injury was nearly 10-fold greater in the awake group compared with the anaesthetised group (P=0.021). Hypothermia was neuroprotective in the anaesthetised pigs but not the awake pigs. In the hippocampus, the density of cleaved caspase-3-positive cells was increased in awake compared with anaesthetised pigs in normothermia. In the cerebellum, Purkinje cell density was reduced in the awake pigs irrespective of treatment, and the number of cleaved caspase-3-positive Purkinje cells was greatly increased in hypothermic awake pigs. We detected no difference in cleaved caspase-3 in the granular cell layer or microglial reactivity across the groups. Conclusions: Our study provides novel insights into the significance of anaesthesia/sedation during hypothermia for achieving optimal neuroprotection